Timor Leste: Int responsibility for justice

Amnesty International reminded
the United Nations (UN) of its responsibility to ensure that
perpetrators of crimes against humanity and other serious
crimes in Timor-Leste (formerly known as East Timor) are
brought to justice. The organisation is calling on the New
Zealand government to support recommendations which address
the failure of the Indonesian Government to bring
perpetrators of serious crimes to justice.

"The trials
conducted by Indonesia have not been truthful, honest or
fair" said Amnesty International in a report "Indonesia &
Timor - Leste: International responsibility for justice"
issued today. "It is now time for the UN to find alternative
ways to ensure that justice is delivered in an effective and
credible process".

At the height of the violence in 1999
when militia, supported by the Indonesian security forces,
launched widespread and systematic attacks against the
population of Timor-Leste, both the UN Security Council and
the UN Commission on Human Rights (CHR) adopted resolutions
demanding that perpetrators be brought to justice.

A
special session of the CHR was convened in September 1999.
It condemned "the widespread, systematic and gross
violations of human rights and international humanitarian
law". It also called upon the Indonesian authorities to
ensure that "persons responsible for acts of violence and
flagrant and systematic violations of human rights are
brought to justice".

The Security Council also demanded
that those responsible for the violence be brought to
justice and called on all parties to cooperate with
investigations into reports of systematic, widespread and
flagrant violations of international humanitarian and human
rights law.

An International Commission of Inquiry on East
Timor, established by the UN Secretary-General on the
recommendation of the CHR, recommended that an international
tribunal be established to bring to trial perpetrators. It
also noted that the UN has a vested interest in
participating in the entire process of investigation,
establishing responsibility and punishing those responsible
and that dealing effectively with these issues is important
for ensuring that future Security Council decisions are
respected.

Rather than establishing an international
tribunal the UN accepted Indonesia's assurances that it
would investigate and bring to trial perpetrators in its own
courts. In the meantime, the UN peacekeeping mission in
Timor-Leste established a Serious Crimes Unit to investigate
crimes committed in 1999 and Special Panels with
jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war
crimes, to hear the cases.

The latter has made
considerable progress in recent months, but still has much
work to do before its task is complete. In contrast, the
legal proceedings in Indonesia have been extremely limited
in scope and have, despite some convictions, to a large
extent failed to deliver either truth or justice. Moreover,
there is no confidence that the Indonesian authorities have
either the capacity or the will to carry out the substantial
legal and institutional reform needed to ensure that the
remaining trials proceed with integrity.

"The Commission
on Human Rights Chairperson's statement must condemn
Indonesia for its failure to undertake the process with good
faith and due diligence. It must also demand that
alternative measures be initiated, among which could be an
international tribunal," Amnesty International
emphasised.

The organisation is also calling upon the
Security Council to institute an independent review by
international legal experts to evaluate the legal
proceedings to date in both Indonesia and Timor-Leste. The
review should look at the full range of possible legal
options for bringing perpetrators to justice -- including
strengthening the process in Timor-Leste, an ad hoc tribunal
established by the Security Council and trials in third
states. Such options could be pursued
simultaneously.

Background It is estimated that some 1,300
people were killed in Timor-Leste in the months proceeding
and in the immediate aftermath of a UN organised ballot on
independence on 30 August 1999. More than a quarter of a
million people were forcibly deported or fled across the
border to West Timor in Indonesia, where an estimated 28,000
remain in refugee camps today. An unknown number of people
were subjected to other human rights violations, including
torture and rape.

These crimes were not spontaneous, but
part of well coordinated efforts by members of the
Indonesian military, police and civilian authorities to
influence the outcome of the ballot and to disrupt the
implementation of the result. The creation of, and support
for militia, including through the provision of funds and
weapons, were central to these efforts.

A total of 18
people have been put on trial in a specially convened ad hoc
Human Rights Court in Indonesia. Eleven defendants have so
far been acquitted and five have been convicted and
sentenced to terms of imprisonment of between three and ten
years. The trials of two senior military officers are
ongoing.

In Timor-Leste, the Serious Crimes Unit has
issued indictments against more than 230 individuals. Many
of the suspects are charged with crimes against humanity.
They include high ranking Indonesian officials, including
the former Commander of the Armed Forces and Defence
Minister, General Wiranto and the Commanders of the Regional
and Timor-Leste Military Commands, Major General Adam
Damiri, Brigadier General Suhartono Suratman. The Indonesian
authorities have refused to cooperate with investigations
and prosecutions in Timor-Leste, including by refusing to
transfer suspects for trial.

A copy of the report:
"Indonesia & Timor-Leste: International responsibility for
justice" can be downloaded from: http://www.amnesty.org.nz

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